Bolivian Rhapsody
by clagjanet
Summary: Sundance AU series #2. A sequel to the AU story "Are you with me, Sundance?" Same old characters, slightly different tales. This is all part of the original FB Fanfic challenge to write a story with a "what if? premise.


**Bolivian Rhapsody**

 _Author's Note: This is a continuation of my AU piece "Are you with me, Sundance?" which was developed from a writing challenge to write a story with the premise "What if…" I suggest you read that story first as this story will make little sense otherwise!_

Amanda waved the boys off to the school bus, then walked back into the kitchen to pick up her purse and coat with a sigh. Her job today was going to be the third place that Office Temps had sent her to in the last two weeks and she hoped this one would work out. It would be nice to have something steady instead of this constant chop and change of a different workplace every week. The job interview they'd sent her on yesterday at Honeycutt Typewriters seemed to have gone well though, so maybe that would be the permanent job she craved, although that Mr. Davenport had been a bit creepy. The child support from Joe was welcome and her mother's contributions of course, but she really needed a regular income and these 'a-day-here, a-day-there' jobs were not cutting it.

"Goodbye Mother!" she called up the stairs. "I'll see you tonight!"

"Alright, Darling! I hope this one goes well. Maybe it will be a nice rich single executive you're working for!"

"Mother! That is not what I'm going to work for!"

"I know, Amanda, but it can't hurt to keep your options open!"

She could still hear her mother laughing as she headed out the back door. She felt a pang of regret that she hadn't asked Lee Stetson to pursue the possibility of work at the Agency before he'd been sent out of town. They hadn't even managed to have that dinner he'd promised before he was gone, like a genie in a puff of smoke.

 _I guess that's why they call them spooks,_ she thought to herself _. Now that's a weird job_. He'd barely gotten out of the hospital and he was already travelling. You'd think between the concussion, the broken ribs and the allergic reaction to the penicillin, he'd have wanted some recovery time, but he'd actually seemed enthusiastic about getting back to work. He had sounded regretful about having to cancel their dinner date though, so maybe she'd hear from him when he got back. Mind you, she laughed to herself, he had made a comment about going someplace where he'd shopping in a real Banana Republic so it seemed likely he might be somewhere he'd be coming back from with a tropical disease or two - maybe he'd end up back in hospital.

 _Stop it Amanda_ , she scolded herself. Her volunteer work at Georgetown Hospital had certainly been much duller since he'd been released but that was no reason to wish him back there. She chuckled again thinking how much the orderlies would like it if he was – the endless parade of beautiful women coming to visit him had made their days, even though it drove the nurses crazy. She'd noticed though that his expression was quite different when a real friend visited him; Mr. Melrose and Francine got a much different smile than all the leggy blondes, it was warmer and it reached his eyes. She was pretty sure that was the smile she'd gotten any time she'd walked in the room too, but gosh, it was hard sometimes to see past those dimples and the twinkle in those eyes! Paul Newman had nothing on him in the beautiful eyes department. She'd seen a lot of him during his stay there because he was a much better patient when he had company – she'd never tell him how often the nurses had come looking for her to distract him on her volunteer days. Not that it had ever been a hardship, but it had reminded her of when the boys both had the chicken pox and hadn't wanted to stay in bed; she and her mother had had to become increasingly creative in their attempts to keep them from overexerting themselves.

Her mother would like Lee though, she thought, he'd make her laugh. It was a pity they could never meet, not with his line of work. Her mother saw every man as possible romantic material, but she wanted Amanda to find someone safe and sensible, not James Bond. Dotty had been disappointed when Amanda told her she wouldn't be seeing Dean again but after Amanda had explained about Dean refusing to help at the train station, she'd understood. Of course, she'd told her mother that it was a simple mugging, not the gunfight it turned into, but even so, Dotty had been appalled that Dean had outright refused to help someone in need.

"Really? He just stood there and watched you get involved in saving someone from an attack?"

"Mmm-hmm. And then fought with me about it afterwards. I was _very_ disappointed in him. You'd think someone in the news business would be better about not just being a bystander during a crime."

"Well, if I can't trust him to be a Good Samaritan, I don't think I can trust his weather forecasts either so we're going to have to start watching Channel 7 news instead."

"Good idea, Mother. And you know, it never even rained that day, even though Dean was so certain it would."

Lost in thought, she soon found herself outside the building where she'd be working this week. It looked dull and impersonal from the outside and she felt her spirits fall a little. Then, taking a deep breath, she got out of the car and stood for a moment, gathering her courage.

"Okay, Amanda" she told herself, "Life can't all be secret agents and KGB spies; most days it's just putting food on the table. Maybe this executive secretary job will be just the thing to liven up your life for a week." She started to sing to herself under her breath as she walked across the parking lot, " _I have confidence in sunshine, I have confidence in rain, I have confidence that spring will come again…"_ She pulled open the door and stepped inside. _"And what's more don't you see, I have confidence in meeeeee."_

 **SMK - SMK- SMK- SMK**

"So you couldn't find any trace of Lamarque's source anywhere in San Mateo, Scarecrow?"

"Billy, we could barely find a trace of Lamarque after he got blown up by the army."

Lee and Billy were walking down the hallways of the Agency, deep in discussion about the gunrunners they were trying to stop. Lee's deep tan from his time in Central America was set off by the dark wool suit he was wearing, earning him many admiring female glances as he walked down the hallway obliviously. Francine rolled her eyes as they walked across the bullpen towards her, watching the heads swivel to follow Lee's progress across the room and the little sighs and simpering smiles that he never noticed until he needed something.

He looked up as they approached and gave her a big grin as he saw the exasperated expression on her face. "What have I done now?" he asked. "I can't possibly have done something to annoy you yet; I haven't even been back in town ten minutes."

"Then you're about nine minutes late for how long it usually takes you to do something to annoy me so I'm just getting prepared." She would never admit out loud that it was a relief to see Lee get back from these types of missions; they were long past their brief romantic entanglement with each other but she was glad that unlike some, they'd managed to come out the far side as friends. What 's more, it didn't even seem to bother him that she'd almost gotten him killed a few weeks ago when Mrs. Welch had been drugging her for information on the Agency. She'd tried to apologize again once, when he was still on the hospital and he'd just shrugged it off.

" _It comes with the job, Francine. If it hadn't been you, she would have found someone else. She just lucked into the one person who was a good enough friend to know where I was."_

" _Well, and isn't that just the quality you want in a friend? Their ability to lead assassins straight to you?"_

His shout of laughter had eased her mind considerably at the time but as they followed Billy into his office now, she couldn't help remarking, "Back safe and sound, I see."

"Safe and sound," he confirmed, completely aware of what she'd really been asking. "Not even a flea bite."

Their little verbal dance completed, Francine turned to Billy. "There's been an interesting development on that Betsy Ross woman that called Congressman Holcomb. He'd like it investigated ASAP since her husband is a friend of his."

Lee looked confused. "Betsy Ross called Congressman Holcomb? Isn't she dead by now? It's been 200 years."

"Not that Betsy Ross, but yes, in fact she is dead." Francine turned back to Billy. "You remember Betty Bodine – that woman from the Betsy Ross Estates? They just pulled her body out of a dumpster in Chevy Chase."

"Bodine? Hang on a minute, I think I know that name." Lee lifted up the evidence envelope he'd carried into the office and emptied out the contents onto Billy's desk. It was an odd collection of items that they'd recovered from Lamarque's body deep in the jungle. Lee poked around until he found the scrap of paper he was looking for. "Yeah, Betty Bodine – it's pretty smudged but isn't that her name written on this list we found on Lamarque? Right above 'Harriet Rosemont'."

The three of them looked at each other in confusion. "Why on earth would a central American gunrunner have the name of an American housewife in his pocket?" asked Lee. "What did Mrs. Bodine call the congressman about?"

"She was completely hysterical and talking about hair dryers apparently." Francine shrugged. "Congressman Holcomb's staff thought she was just drunk, but they put through paperwork to notify us because they knew Holcomb would want to tell his friend he'd 'done something about it'."

"Hair dryers?" repeated Lee. "Well now, that's just weird because one of the few things still standing in Lamarque's compound when we got there was one of those big hair dryers like you see in beauty salons."

"Spend a lot of time in hair salons, do you?" quipped Francine.

"You'd be surprised where these magic hands have been in the name of national security," answered Lee, making a scissor motion with his fingers. "Warren Beatty has nothing on me. Hang on though, I've got a photo of it somewhere." He dug through the stack of pictures that had been in the evidence envelope and produced one with a flourish. "There you go."

Billy and Francine leaned in to peer at it. "What's that written on the side of it?" asked Billy.

"Connie Beth Cosmetics," answered Francine, confidently. "They're like the Acme Corporation of direct home sales make-up. And what's more," she paused for effect, "according to her file, Betty Bodine was a Connie Beth sales representative. The head office is based in Arlington."

"Well, it looks like Wile E. Coyote was on to something with his mail-order explosives. There's got to be a connection between arms dealing and Connie Beth Cosmetics no matter how dumb it sounds." Billy paused to think. "We need to get someone in there to check the place out and fast. You two up for a little documentary film work?"

"I'll pick that over a trip to the suburbs any day," responded Francine.

"Aww, you shouldn't be afraid of the suburbs, Francine. We've both been saved by a housewife, after all," answered Lee. _And I still owe her dinner,_ he added mentally _._

 **SMK- SMK- SMK-SMK**

To no one's surprise it didn't take long to get Bobby Bouchard, president of Connie Beth Inc., to agree to let a documentary crew in, not when it was pitched as a film celebrating American success stories. By mid-morning the next day, Lee and Francine were being ushered into his office by Lana Rickman, the head of Public Relations.

"Mr Bouchard, this is Mr. Steadman and Ms. Dutton from International Federal Film. They've come to do some research for that government documentary we talked about yesterday afternoon?"

"Oh yes, come in, come in." The small portly man was very enthusiastic about their arrival. "You know, when my mother, God rest her soul, started this company, she was not only a maverick in the cosmetics industry, she was a maverick for women everywhere to make their own success stories." He was gazing up at a portrait on the wall as he spoke with a doting expression that caused Lee and Francine to exchange an amused glance.

Bouchard swung around suddenly to look at them. "Where are my manners? My mother would be very angry with me if she were here. Would you like a coffee? Tea? Something cold perhaps? My secretary should be back by now."

"Coffee would be lovely thank you." Francine was oozing charm towards Bouchard and he was preening in the face of her apparent admiration.

He walked to the door and leaned out to look around. "Oh there you are, Andrea. Could you please bring us in three coffees? Thank you." He turned back to Lee and Francine. "Now, what are you folks interested in about our little company?"

"Well, everything really, Mr. Bouchard," answered Lee genially. "Your company is just the kind of success story we want to tell people about. Ideally we'd like to get in and film everything from the loading dock to the executive suite."

"But of course, _you'd_ be the focus of the story, Mr. Bouchard. You've done such a marvellous job of carrying on your mother's dream." Francine was laying it on with a trowel now and to Lee's amusement, Bouchard was blooming under her skilled compliments. "I think of course we'd need to get establishing shots in places like shipping and receiving, but if we could just perch in a corner out of your way and film the comings and goings of the executive offices it would be the most interesting thing!"

As she finished, the door to the office opened behind them. "Ah, thank you, Andrea, could you just set the cups down on the desk here," said Bouchard.

Lee felt himself freeze in place as a soft voice said "Actually, Sir, my name's not Andrea, it's Amanda." He turned his head slowly and found himself looking directly into Amanda's eyes as she leaned over the desk to put the coffee down.

"Oh my gosh." Her hand jerked forward and she almost spilled the cup all over the desk.

"Something wrong, Andrea?"

"Amanda." Lee and Amanda corrected him in unison. Lee stared at her, willing her not to say anything. She stared back for a beat, then looked at Bouchard. "No, Sir, I'm sorry, Sir. I just thought I was going to sneeze for a moment there. Do let me know if you need anything else." She put the other coffees on the desk and then she was gone, whisking out of the room before anyone could say anything else.

"I'm so sorry about that," said Bouchard picking up a napkin to mop up the small spill of coffee. "My regular assistant is on holiday and this one is from some sort of temp agency."

"Ah well, no harm done. Just nerves I'm sure." Lee glanced at Francine who was looking back at him, her mouth a perfect 'O' and eyes wide. "Anyway, Mr. Bouchard, about this film…"

 **SMK- SMK- SMK-SMK**

Half an hour later, Lee and Francine were being ushered out of the office past Amanda's desk. She didn't look up, staring down instead at the keyboard of the computer as she typed rapidly, earphones in, listening to the dictation machine beside her.

"Mr. Bouchard, thank you for your time. We're really looking forward to working with you. We'll draw up a release form for you and courier it over this afternoon and then maybe we can get film crews in here as early as tomorrow." Lee paused as if struck by a sudden thought. "Say, is there anywhere around this neighbourhood you could recommend to grab a quick take-out lunch before we head to our next appointment?"

"I hear the fried chicken at the stand at the end of the street is excellent. I would never eat there myself of course, but I hear the staff talking about it."

"Well, that will be fine – we don't have much time to stop and savour anything anyway."

He and Francine walked out of the office and down to the street, where they stopped and looked at each other before bursting into laughter.

"Oh lord, could you believe Norman Bates back there? I'm sure Connie Beth is mummified in a back room somewhere! And then Amanda King walks in to boot?" Francine said in an awed voice. "Thank goodness she didn't say anything but how does that woman keep ending up in the middle of things?"

"I have no idea but we're going to use it. You head back and let Billy know what's going on. I'm going to go grab some lunch and wait to talk to her."

"What if she doesn't come out for her lunch break?"

"She will. You take the car and I'll grab a cab back."

Francine eyed him doubtfully. "You're sure?"

"I'm positive."

He walked down the street and ordered two lunch specials, then leaned against the counter, enjoying the fall sunshine and waited. It was no more than five minutes before Amanda was walking up to the stand, smiling at him. Her smile grew broader when she saw the clerk handing him two baskets.

He gave her a wink as he handed her one of the meals."Hey, Sundance, I was waiting to see what you wanted to drink, but lunch is ready."

Amanda had to laugh at his confidence. "You seem pretty certain I was going to show up, Butch. And I'll have a sweet tea, thank you."

"Your Dictaphone volume was set at zero," he smiled back. "And besides, I knew you'd remember I owe you dinner."

"This is dinner? I should have bargained better."

"This isn't dinner. This is bribery. We need your help."

"I thought you might."

As they walked across the street towards the picnic benches in the park, Lee noticed Amanda was looking up at him with a thoughtful expression.

"What?" he asked "Have I got something on my face?"

"No, I just hadn't noticed you were so tall before."

"Really? I've been this tall all along."

"I suppose it's because most of the time we've known each other, you've been flat on your back."

Lee managed not to spit out the sip of soda he'd just taken. Sneaking a quick sideways look, he watched a delightful blush rise up Amanda's cheeks as she realized what she'd said.

"Oh my gosh! I didn't mean that the way it sounded. I meant that most of our conversations have been while you've been in bed."

He held his breath and stared straight ahead, lips pressed together, trying not to react until suddenly, he heard her making a gurgling sound. When he turned to look at her, she finally gave way to the giggles she'd been trying to stifle.

"Want to try that one again, Kid?" Her mirth was infectious and he was laughing outright now.

Amanda paused for a moment, entranced by the sparkle in his eyes. "Third time lucky? No, I'd probably just dig myself deeper. How about we just move along and you tell me what on earth you and Francine were doing there this morning?"

"Would you believe we're trying to figure out a connection between Connie Beth and Central American gun runners?"

"Really? 'Get Smart' jokes? That's all you've got?" They'd reached the benches and Lee took her hand to help her step behind the bench before swinging to the other side to sit down opposite her.

Lee grinned at her tone of mock annoyance. "Sorry about that, Chief. No, seriously, we think that Connie Beth Cosmetics is involved somehow in shipping illegal arms to rebels in San Mateo – the country, not the city, of course."

"Of course." Amanda began to daintily pick at the fried chicken. "So that's where you were last week? She waited for him to nod. "And somehow you've learned of my expertise in gun running and that's going to be helpful to you." She looked up at him through her long lashes and smiled as he choked with laughter.

"Maybe next time. This time we'll settle for some insider access to the executive office at Connie Beth."

"I'm only there as a temp, Lee – the job's only supposed to last a week, until his regular secretary comes back." Her joking tone was gone as she started to think about the seriousness of the topic under discussion.

"That's fine – we're under a tight schedule anyway. There's rumours of a coup attempt sometime in the next ten days and we need to cut off the supply of guns somehow. We really just want to figure out the connection between two housewives on a list we found along with a Connie Beth hairdryer in a compound in San Mateo."

"Gun runners with hairdryers? That's odd."

"That's kind of what we thought. But that's not the only thing. One of the housewives called her congressman and left a garbled message about hair dryers – and then turned up dead a few days later."

Amanda gulped. "No possibility it was natural causes, I'm guessing."

"Since they found her in a dumpster, I'm going to say no."

Lee looked up and saw the worried expression on Amanda's face. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't even be asking you and I wouldn't be if this wasn't a matter of international security. If we can stop those guns, we can save a lot of lives."

"I know," she agreed quietly. "I was just thinking about her poor family."

"She didn't really have one, except her husband," said Lee uncomfortably.

"Oh, the poor man," said Amanda. "So now he has nothing." She pushed around at the food in front of her for a moment and then looked up to see Lee looking at her with concern. "So what do you need me to do?"

Lee heaved a sigh of relief and began to outline his plan.

 **SMK- SMK- SMK-SMK**

It hadn't taken Amanda long to gain access to the personnel files for Harriet Rosemont and Betty Bodine. She'd simply walked into the Human Resources department and told the bored clerk that Mr. Bouchard had asked her to pull some files for candidates for promotions. The woman had just popped her gum and waved her towards the files. "Help yourself," she'd muttered before going back to the stack of paperwork in front of her.

"I guess not everyone at Connie Beth is a maverick," Amanda muttered to herself, and then made quick work of grabbing the two files plus one or two others to use as cover if she were caught with them. All the files were for top sellers, so she was sure she could explain it away if anyone asked.

Now she was sitting at her kitchen table late in the evening, flipping through the files trying to discern what connection these women could possibly have. With the boys in bed hours since and her mother upstairs, it was the first quiet time she'd had to leaf through the paperwork she'd snuck out in her purse. She was staring at the photo of a smiling Betty Bodine, the woman who'd left almost no one behind, when there was a light tap on the front door. There was only one person she could think of that would be visiting this late at night, so she was already smiling broadly when she opened the door and found Dean on the doorstep.

"Oh! I wasn't expecting you!" she couldn't help saying, her smile getting less bright.

"Hi," he said in a slightly embarrassed tone. "Can I come in?"

"Certainly," she answered opening the door wider to let him step inside. "Can I get you a coffee or something? What brings you here so late?"

"Well, I didn't like the way our last conversation ended and I thought we should talk."

She paused on her way to the kitchen and turned back to look at him. "Our last conversation? It wasn't a conversation, it was you lecturing me about how upsetting it was for you that I was helping a stranger."

"Well, it _was_ very impetuous of you! I thought you had more sense than to rush into such a dangerous situation! I mean, he turned out to have a gun!"

"I didn't know that! And besides, that is not the point! What if that had been me being mugged on a train platform? Would you have just walked off and left me to fend for myself?"

"Of course not! But…"

"So what if it had been a woman you didn't know?"

"Well, of course…"

"So, you think just because it was a man that needed help that we shouldn't have helped him? He almost died, you know!"

"But Amanda! It is different!"

By now Amanda was beyond angry. She couldn't believe Dean had shown up and started this argument again. Had he not listened to a single thing she'd said during their last discussion about this? "You know what, Lee?" She stopped and closed her eyes briefly and then continued, hoping he hadn't noticed. " _Leave_ your coat on, Dean. You're not staying because I am not having this argument with you again."

Dean had his grumpy toddler expression on. "Fine. I see you haven't gained any common sense since we last spoke." He stalked towards the front door, passing a concerned-looking Dotty who had come downstairs at the sound of raised voices. "Perhaps you could box up any fishing and camping equipment I've left in your garage and send it to the station. If you're not too busy being a one-woman vigilante team, that is!"

"I'll make sure to throw in some extra umbrellas for you, since I know how much you hate getting wet!" she snapped back.

Dotty's mouth had dropped open at this uncharacteristically sharp comment from Amanda. Dean stomped out the door and Amanda locked it behind him with as much vehemence as she could apply to a deadbolt. As she turned away from the door, she looked up at her mother, still standing on the stairs, and apparently struck dumb.

"What? He started it!" she found herself saying.

"And you finished it. Beautifully I might add. I know you said he'd been unreasonable but I had no idea he could be so childish! You were quite right to throw him out, Amanda!"

Amanda stepped forward and gave Dotty a long hug. "Thank you Mother. I know you liked him."

"Well, obviously I didn't know him well enough. You can do much better than that, my darling. You deserve a Prince Charming who will slay dragons for you, not the Toad Prince."

"Wasn't it a Frog Prince, Mother?" Amanda was starting to smile again, buoyed by her mother's support.

"Oh, Dean is obviously not interesting enough to be a frog and since he doesn't like to get wet – he can only be a toad at most." She reached forward and patted Amanda's cheek. "Now I'm going back up to have a bath. I'll check on the boys and make sure he didn't wake them up. You should have a milk and Galliano, dear – I do find it soothes me if I've gotten upset about something before bed."

"I just might do that, Mother. Good night."

"Good night, Darling." Dotty had started to drift back upstairs, muttering to herself about childish men when she suddenly stopped and looked back down the stairs. "So who's Lee?" she asked.

Amanda gaped at her. "Who's Lee who?" she spluttered out.

"You called Dean 'Lee' just then."

"Oh, that Lee." Amanda thought quickly, then answered, "That's the name of the man from the train platform that day – I guess I had his name on my mind because that's who we were fighting about."

"Well, it really says something when a barely conscious man is more interesting than Dean. Maybe you should try and find him again – aren't you responsible for him now that you saved his life? You should invite him for dinner and make sure he's recovering properly."

"Mother! Would you please stop trying to fix me up with strange men? Phillip and Jamie are all the men I need in my life right now."

"Just making sure you're noticing when opportunity knocks, Darling." With a smile, Dotty turned and continued up the stairs. "Good night again."

Amanda went back into the kitchen, trying to decide if she was going to take her mother's advice and have that drink. Catching sight of the files that were still on the table, she walked back to the table instead and picked up reading where she'd left off.

Half an hour later, she was still staring thoughtfully at the files when a tap at the kitchen window made her jump several inches out her chair. Looking up, she met Lee's smiling eyes peering in at her from the patio. She rushed to get up and let him in the back door.

"You scared me half to death!" she whispered, pointing upwards with one hand and holding a finger across her lips with the other to let him know he needed to be quiet as well.

"Sorry," he said quietly with an apologetic smile. "I decided the timeline was too tight to wait for you to bring everything by tomorrow. Are those the files?" he moved quickly over to the kitchen table and dropped into a chair to start reading.

"Yes. Do you want a coffee or anything? And hello to you too." She pulled out a plate and loaded it with freshly-made brownies.

"Sorry – hello. I just couldn't wait to see if there was anything in here we could use. And I could murder a coffee right now." Lee was already deep into the files when he absentmindedly picked up one of the brownies and took a bite. "Holy cow! These are fantastic, Amanda!" He spoke at normal volume unthinkingly.

"Thank you, now shhhhh!" she waved at him from the coffee pot. "Cream and sugar?"

"Just cream," Lee's attention was already back on the files when Amanda placed the cup at his elbow and sat down.

"You know what I noticed on those? Both Harriet and Betty are in the Golden Circle Sellers Club."

"The Golden Circle? What's that?" Lee started flipping back and forth through the papers trying to find out what she meant.

"It's the top level of sellers. They get all sorts of perks for being the best salesladies at Connie Beth, and one of those perks is access to selling to the overseas market."

"Connie Beth has an overseas market? Now that _is_ interesting," agreed Lee. "Let me guess what the big sellers are – hair dryers?"

"Hair dryers, heated curlers, electric razors, you name it," confirmed Amanda.

Lee leaned back in his chair and sipped at the coffee she'd given him with a thoughtful expression. "So lots of electrical things. That could be a great way to smuggle stuff. Even x-raying the parcels would just look like a jumble of metal parts and wires." He straightened up and tapped the files. "This was really helpful, Sundance. I'm going to get you to take them back in case someone notices they're missing. It's very likely they'll go looking for Betty's if they're trying to cover their tracks."

"You don't need them as evidence?" she asked, surprised.

"No, I don't think the women are actively involved. If I'm right, they're just acting as unknowing shipping agents, but Betty must have figured something out and it got her killed. I just need to find all the warehouses and shipping points for Connie Beth now."

"Do you want me to find that out tomorrow?" Amanda had to admit she was enjoying her second foray into spy work.

"No, it's too dangerous for you to be asking questions like that when you're just a temp. I should be able to find out everything I need to know back on the Agency computers. I'll be back to interview Bouchard again first thing tomorrow though, so remember we don't know each other. I'm just a nice film producer."

"Right," said Amanda. "Perfect strangers."

"Amanda?" Her mother's voice came from the top of the stairs. "Who are you talking to?"

"Nobody, Mother. Just talking back to the radio," Amanda called back, making flapping motions at Lee to leave before her mother came downstairs. He was already up and moving to the door, coffee mug still in his hand, pausing only to lean back in and grab a couple of brownies off the plate.

"Goodnight, Kid," he whispered at her with a grin.

"Goodnight, Butch." She shut the door behind him and turned to greet her mother who was walking into the kitchen. "Nice bath, Mother? I hope the radio didn't disturb you."

 **SMK- SMK- SMK-SMK**

She was surprised the next day to see Francine arrive at Connie Beth alone. "Good morning, Ms. Dutton. Mr. Bouchard has just stepped out but he'll be back in a moment. Mr. Steadman isn't with you today?"

Francine looked at her with narrowed eyes, trying to decide if her question was genuine or if Amanda King had fallen in with the legions of women who only paid attention to her to get to Lee. "No, Mr. Steadman has left me to do this alone today apparently. No one's seen him since yesterday afternoon."

She saw the flare of concern in Amanda's eyes at her response and realized she was really worried. "Umm, Andrea? Is there a ladies' room nearby I could use? I'd love to freshen up before I see Mr. Bouchard." To her relief, Amanda picked up on the hint immediately and jumped to her feet.

"Let me show you the way. Until Mr. Bouchard gives the go-ahead, I probably shouldn't let you wander around without an escort anyway."

They walked quickly to the nearby washroom and once inside, Francine moved quickly along the cubicles, confirming they were alone. "Okay, what do you know?" she asked.

"Did you mean it when you said you hadn't seen Lee since yesterday?"

"Yes, of course I did. Have you?"

"Yes! He came by the house late last night to look at the personnel files for Betty and Harriet and he told me he'd be here this morning. He was very definite about that." Amanda was not soothed by the expression that went across Francine's face.

"Do you still have the files?"

"No, he told me to bring them back because he was going to go back to the Agency to find the addresses for the shipping centers."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! He said he was going back to the Agency?"

"Yes, and then he said he'd be here today."

Francine thought furiously for a moment and then said "Can you get out of here? Billy's going to want to hear about everything you and Lee discussed and then we need to figure out where he's gone."

"Let me grab my purse. I'll follow you out."Amanda didn't hesitate, although she knew Office Temps was not going to be impressed with her. _Oh well_ , she thought to herself. _This whole place is probably going to be swarming with federal agents soon enough anyway_.

The drive back to the Agency was a white-knuckle ride for Amanda, with Francine driving like a bat out of hell. She was surprised when they pulled in beside a nondescript red brick building in Georgetown and drove into a parking garage and she was confused when Francine led her into a closet that turned out to be an elevator but she was dumbfounded when the elevator doors opened on a massive underground complex.

"Oh my gosh!" was all she could manage to say as Francine grabbed her by the arm and dragged her across the room to Billy's office.

He looked up, startled to see who Francine had in tow. "Mrs. King? What brings you here?"

"I did," said Francine shortly. "Lee was at her house last night and she says he was coming back here right after."

"He said he was coming back to look up addresses for Connie Beth shipping agents, and he also said he'd be at the Connie Beth offices this morning, Sir. He was very sure about that."

Billy was on his feet and out the office door in an instant. "Come on, let's see if there's anything on his desk that'll tell us where he went." He led them across the bullpen to an untidy desk in the corner. He sat down in Lee's chair and stared at the piles of paper. "Where do we even start? And what is this dirt all over his desk?"

Amanda stepped forward to stand at his elbow. "The dirt is brownie crumbs and that's my coffee mug so he was definitely here after he was at my house. You should start on this side. He's left-handed so all the newest notes would be on this side."

Billy nodded in agreement. "You're right. This is on top – can either of you make head or tails of it?" He held out a piece of paper covered in hieroglyphics.

Francine squinted at it. "Uhhh. Let's see… 'Sandwich, H.R. field' Then 'Ham diaper, Common Base, Subtraction. Lee Huey, O'Donnell Draw'. Oh for heaven's sake, he has the worst handwriting in the world!" She threw up her hands in exasperation.

Amanda reached out for the paper. "May I have a look at that?" she asked meekly.

"Have at her," said Francine. "Lots of luck."

Amanda squinted at the page for a moment and then said. "It says 'Sundance H.R. files. Hair dryers, Connie Beth Subsidiary, Lee Highway at Old Dominion Road.' Maybe that's the address of the warehouse he went to." She handed the paper back to Billy who stared at her with a shocked expression.

"You can read that?" he asked in a tone of wonder.

"You can't?" asked Amanda, genuinely surprised by the question.

"Are you kidding? No one here can read Lee's handwriting and that includes the Cryptography department! And Lee half the time." snorted Francine. "But what the heck does 'Sundance' mean? Is it code?"

"Oh! That's me!" said Amanda shyly. "It's sort of a joke. It means he got the HR files from me, I think."

"Francine, go find out if Connie Beth has a warehouse anywhere near that intersection. We're going to start there. Mrs. King, is that your Connie Beth ID you're wearing?"

Amanda looked down and realized she was indeed still wearing the badge that had been issued to her on her first day. "Yes Sir. Do you need it?"

He thought for a moment and then asked, "I shouldn't ask this, but if there is a warehouse there, would you go with Francine and bluff your way in so she can look around? It would be better if she could just borrow it, but your hair colour is too different to fool anyone."

"I'd be happy to, Sir, if you think Lee's really in trouble."

He still looked uncertain. "It could be dangerous. We don't know what Lee walked into."

"I'll just make sure to take my trusty bedpan with me, Mr. Melrose. If it worked against the KGB, I'm sure gunrunners won't stand a chance!"

Bill couldn't help chuckling in the face of her cheerful optimism. "Just make sure you let Francine take the lead – she'll look after you."

Francine arrived back, looking pleased with herself. "Connie Beth does have a subsidiary company, BBHA, and they have a warehouse right off the Lee Highway in Arlington!"

"Oh! I know exactly where BBHA is – I drive by there all the time," said Amanda.

"Good, I'll drive, you navigate," answered Francine, turning to leave the bullpen.

Billy couldn't help chuckling again as the two women left when he heard Amanda asking, "Francine, could we maybe go a little slower this time? My heart hasn't stopped racing from the drive here yet" and Francine's response, "Welcome to the fast lane, Amanda!"

 **SMK- SMK- SMK-SMK**

Francine spotted Lee's Porsche parked a block away from the warehouse.

"That's his car?" asked Amanda doubtfully. "How does such a big guy fit in such a tiny car?"

"You'd be surprised by what Lee can manage to do in that car," smirked Francine, who had the grace to look a little embarrassed at her joke when she saw Amanda's confused expression. "Well, let's just say that car has gotten him a lot of dates in its time."

"Ohhhh," said Amanda in sudden comprehension. "It seems kind of conspicuous for a spy though. If he really needs to get more girls, he should get a puppy. Girls can never resist a guy with a puppy."

Francine stared at her, trying to decide if she was serious, when Amanda's lips finally twitched and they both started to laugh. "I'll make sure to suggest that to him when we find him," she giggled. "Maybe a nice Saint Bernard."

"A Chihuahua would fit in his car better," remarked Amanda dryly. "But he does seem to need to be rescued a lot."

"He could fill that little barrel thing with good scotch," said Francine, "and create his own K-9 unit."

"With all female dogs," quipped Amanda.

"I think having me around is enough for him in that department," responded Francine, laughing. "But let's find him first."

They parked near Lee's car and then walked slowly towards the warehouse, Francine making mental notes on all the exits and entrances. When they found a payphone on the street running behind the building, she quickly called Billy to update him.

"We're going to get in there, Billy – if they've had Lee all night, he probably needs helps fast, but it would be nice to know we have backup on the way."

"You've got it." Billy began shouting orders out into the bullpen before coming back to the phone. "We should be there in fifteen minutes – be careful until we get there. No heroics, Francine, alright? And get Mrs. King out of there as soon as you can."

She rolled her eyes at the phone, but resisted telling him she knew her job. "See you soon Billy."

They started to work their way down the narrow alleyway that ran between BBHA and the next building, looking for any way they could get in without being seen. After circling the building completely, Francine admitted defeat. "There's no way to get in without someone seeing us, so we're going to have to go with bluffing our way in and letting everybody see us. Are you ready?"

Amanda nodded and took a deep calming breath. She took the lead and walked directly up the man who seemed to be in charge of the loading dock. "Excuse me?" she called out, waving her Connie Beth ID tag. "I'm looking for Mr. Bouchard – I'm his secretary and he said he'd be here this morning and that I should bring the film crew to start getting establishing shots."

The foreman looked at her with a completely mystified expression. "Well, he didn't say nuttin' to me about it, but he's upstairs if you wanna go find him."

The two women exchanged a look – neither of them had actually expected to find Bobby Bouchard at the warehouse. "Thank you so much," said Amanda with a slight quaver in her voice and walked into the warehouse, Francine directly behind her.

"Amanda, maybe you should go back and wait in the car while I look for Lee," said Francine quietly once they were out of earshot.

Amanda looked affronted. "Don't be ridiculous, you need me. Look, it's going to take two of us to search a warehouse this size, and if we meet Bouchard, I'll just tell him I brought you here from the office. If he knows about Lee, then he knows about you, but he doesn't know that I know about you and Lee so it won't look suspicious that you got me to bring you here and he won't know that I'm kind of your backup. You need me." She repeated the last sentence again for emphasis, in case Francine was thinking about arguing with her.

Francine blinked in the face of Amanda's verbal onslaught. "Ungh. You're right. I do need you. Okay, let's assume that if Bouchard's upstairs, that's probably where he has Lee. Let's find a staircase and sneak up. We don't want any elevator bells announcing us."

They worked their way across the massive open space on the ground floor and found a stairwell in the corner. As they climbed up, Francine stopped and stuck her head out at each floor to do a quick reconnaissance. When they reached the top, she paused on the landing and briefed Amanda. "Well, the second floor is fully staffed but all the offices on the third floor are empty, so the fourth floor is a good place to hide somebody because there'd be nobody to hear you downstairs. You stand outside this door while I check all the rooms and if you see someone coming, make some noise so I hear about it, alright? And then be prepared to get the hell out of the way."

Amanda nodded, nervously.

"I don't suppose you have a gun, do you?" asked Francine hopefully.

"Gosh, no!" answered Amanda. "Do you think I need one?"

"Let's hope not. Ready?" and with a nod to each other, they stepped out into the hallway of the fourth floor. Francine moved quietly and efficiently down the corridor, peeking into open doorways but waiting until she was at the far end to start testing closed doors, looking for Lee. Suddenly, a door opened halfway between her and Amanda, and Bouchard stepped out with a heavy-set man by his side. Amanda immediately walked forward talking loudly, getting their attention away from Francine who stepped out of sight into a room behind them.

"Mr. Bouchard? There you are! We've been looking for you everywhere! They said we'd find you here! Ms. Dutton wanted to talk to you more about the film and when I said you weren't in the office this morning, she was quite insistent that we come and find you."

In a room down the corridor behind Amanda, Lee lifted his head from his chest, his heart leaping at the sound of her voice. He was tied and gagged so he could do nothing to get her attention, but he strained to hear what was going on over the sounds of the radio that had been left playing in the room he was in. Unexpectedly, the radio DJ provided him with a way to alert his friends where he was. He began to hop the chair across the room so he could nudge the volume button with his nose.

Bouchard had swung around at the sound of Amanda's voice and his face had gotten more and more flushed as she'd rambled. "Ms. Dutton is looking for me? I just bet she is. Where is she now?"

"She went downstairs to find a payphone, I think. I said I'd keep trying to find you."

Bouchard turned back to his thug. "Go downstairs and find her and bring her up here. She's obviously looking for her partner."

"Oh, is Mr. Steadman already here? That's good. She mentioned she hadn't seen him this morning and that their whole office was looking for him." Amanda was hoping to rattle Bouchard with that last piece of information and she could see that it had. Bouchard's henchman headed down the stairwell at high speed and Bouchard walked back into the office he'd just emerged from. Amanda followed him and looked in tentatively, relieved to see there was no one else in there.

As she stepped back, Francine poked her head out with a questioning look. Amanda pointed into the office and held up one finger, then pointed again at the stairwell and lifted up two fingers. Francine nodded to show she'd understood and then waved at Amanda to begin moving back down the hallway out of harm's way. Just then, there was a crash down the corridor and followed by a sudden blast of music blaring out. As both women froze, Amanda couldn't help but think about the incongruity of this possible life-and-death situation having a soundtrack of the melodic tune of "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head." Her eyes widened as she took in the significance of the song.

Spinning around, she began running down the hall trying to find the source of the music. Hearing it from behind a closed door, she flung the door open and saw Lee lying the floor, still tied to a chair, his head resting on the radio where he'd obviously knocked it off the table.

"Found him!" she yelled to Francine.

Francine nodded as Bouchard ran back out into the hallway, carrying a gun. "Get in there with him and barricade yourself in!"

Amanda ran into the room and locked it behind her, wincing at the sound of a gun battle beginning outside. Looking for something to put against the door, she realized the only two things were the overturned table and the chair Lee was still tied to. Grabbing the table and flipping it on its side, she jammed it under the doorknob, then ran across the room to Lee.

She pulled the gag from his mouth first and then turned to the knots that bound him to the chair. "Hey, Butch, they're playing our song."

"Thank god for Burt Bacharach," muttered Lee as he strained to help her untie him. "What on earth are you doing here? How did you find me?"

"I'm here in case Francine needed more help reading your handwriting," she answered, grabbing his wrists and rubbing them to help get the circulation back. She looked up at his confused expression and couldn't help giggling. "And of course, I heard you were flat on the floor again."

He snorted with laughter as he stood up and pulled her to her feet. "Who else is here? You and Francine and who else?"

"We're it, I'm afraid although Mr. Melrose has people on the way"

"Any chance you have a gun on you?" he asked hopefully.

"No chance at all, I'm afraid," answered Amanda.

To their horror, they heard the muffled scream of a woman in pain and then the sound of gunfire stopped. Lee looked at her desperately, then ran to the window. "They'll be coming for us next. I have to get you out of here!" He began undoing the latches in the large casement window. "That's the good thing about old fashioned buildings - big windows that actually open!"

"Lee! We're on the fourth floor! How can we possibly get out of here?" Even as she asked, they heard the sounds of someone starting to try and get the door open.

"It's either out this window or out that door." He stopped as he got the window flung open and looked at her sorrowfully for a moment. "I'm really sorry we got you involved in this. You could have just stayed in a nice comfy office and not ended up jumping for your life."

"Well, it's not like that the job would have lasted past today if Mr. Bouchard is about to be arrested. I would have been looking for work anyway."

Lee gave her a grin and held out his hand. "Okay then, Sundance – want to re-create your favourite movie scene?"

"I don't think it's going to be much of a re-creation – they had water to jump into and we only have pavement four flights straight down. I'd rather do the scene on the bicycle."

"We don't have water, but we do have the roof of a three-story building about six feet across that alley – think you can make it?"

"Do I have a choice?" she answered with a gulp. A sudden burst of gunfire against the door handle was her answer.

Lee took her hand and walked back as far they could get in the room. "Run and jump, just like the high jump back in school, right?" She looked him in the eye and nodded. "Okay, Kid, come on! Bolivia or bust!"

As they began to run across the room, Lee gripped her hand more firmly, praying that he was right about how close that adjacent building was and determined that he was going to get this amazing woman onto that far roof if he had to die doing it.

They ran, pace for pace across the room to the wide warehouse windows, one foot hitting the sill and pushing off in perfect unison, adrenaline giving them more push-off power then either could have imagined as they dove for the roof across the alley. When they actually landed, stumbling and falling forward onto their hands and knees, it was Lee who grabbed her and rolled both of them behind a concrete abutment and out of range of the window they'd jumped from. Bouchard and his goon were now firing from the window and the bullets were sending up tiny dust devils on the ground beside them.

"We have got to stop meeting like this," groaned Amanda from the circle of his arms. Lee couldn't help chuckling into her hair as he sheltered her with his body.

At last they could hear the sirens of their approaching rescuers coming close, but Lee kept her pulled in close, listening to the pounding of her heart until they also heard the sound of Agency personnel swarming the building. Only when they heard Billy calling their names did Lee finally release her and climb to his feet, pulling her upright.

"Over here, Billy!" he called, waving to get his attention. Billy looked up with relief from where he'd been staring in horror at the ground outside the open window. "Did you find Francine? Is she okay?"

"Paramedics are patching her up right now – just a graze on the arm." He looked back over the window sill then across to where they were standing. "How on earth did you get over there?" he asked in amazement.

"Pure fear mostly, Mr. Melrose," answered Amanda honestly.

"Well then, you've discovered one of the Agency's most formidable weapons, Mrs. King" laughed Billy from across the alley.

 **SMK-SMK-SMK-SMK**

Lee walked down 13th Street with a spring in his step. He had found himself in the neighbourhood towards the middle of the day and had suddenly realized how close he was to the Honeycutt Typewriters office. He wondered if Amanda would be free for lunch if he dropped in.

He couldn't help smiling as the memory of the previous week came back to him. He had dropped her off to pick up her car at the Connie Beth offices after they had finally managed to tie up all the loose ends and she'd still been so upbeat even after facing apparently certain death with him, for the second time in their short acquaintance. Outside of a few scrapes and bruises from their hard landing, the only other real damage had been a tear in her skirt and ruined pantyhose.

"I'm sorry our afternoons together always seem to end up with you going home with ruined clothes," he'd said apologetically.

"Yeah, it reminds me of how I used to come home from my high school dates - and I haven't even been fighting to keep you from getting to second base."

There was silence in the car and then she'd put one hand across her eyes and groaned. "Why, why, why do I keep saying things like that? They don't sound like that in my head but somehow out loud… And you can just put those dimples away, Butch. They're not helping."

Lee picked up her free hand and gave it a kiss with a huge grin on his face. "If it makes you feel any better, I think I might have accidentally gotten to second base somewhere in the middle of that roll around the roof."

"Oh yes, that makes it so much better," she'd responded in a dry tone. "Second base and I haven't even had that dinner you promised me."

"That's true. What are you doing Friday night, Sundance?"

"I would hope I'm finally getting that dinner."

"Pick you up at 7?"

"How about I meet you somewhere? You'd be much too difficult to explain to my mother."

It was over that dinner on Friday that Amanda had told him of her relief at getting this job at Honeycutt, especially after losing the job at Connie Beth so precipitously. She'd managed to convince Office Temps to pay her for the full week, since it was hardly her fault that the job hadn't gone its full term.

"Well, it was partially my fault, I guess, since I helped get the president of the company arrested for international arms dealing, but I didn't point that out to them," she'd laughed over dessert. "But the job with Honeycutt is long term, so that's a weight off my shoulders."

He'd been pleased for her. He'd even sympathized when she said that the only downside to starting the new job so soon was that she wouldn't be able to go on the class trip with Phillip to the National Zoo.

"I love the pandas," she'd confessed. "My mother used to call me Panda when I was little, and they always make me smile when I see them."

She smiled a lot, Lee had noticed. He wasn't sure he'd ever met anyone with such incurable optimism. It had been an odd kind of date for him – he realized that he'd been dating two types of girls for the last few years: nice but dumb or smart but aggressive. Amanda had been neither of those; she was nice and smart and best of all, she had laughed at his jokes, not in that way that women often did, to be polite, but because she genuinely understood them. She also laughed _at_ him the same way Francine did, the same way Eric used to, not letting him get away with anything. He didn't really see himself dating a suburban mother of two, but he had to admit it was nice to think of having another real friend.

He found the building for Honeycutt Typewriters with little difficulty and after checking the directory in the lobby, took the elevator to the third floor. The office seemed quiet when he walked in; he realized it was further into the lunch hour than he'd thought and wondered if he'd missed Amanda.

"Can I help you?" asked a voice from across the room. A middle-aged woman was eating her lunch at her desk, sandwich in one hand, romance novel in the other.

"I was looking for Amanda King. Any chance she hasn't left for lunch yet?"

The woman snorted and glanced towards the offices at the back. "Oh no, she's still here. Mr. Davenport wanted to talk to her about how she's settling in. She'll be a while."

There was something about the way she said it that set Lee's nerves on edge. He walked behind the reception desk and started to walk towards the offices. The woman leapt to her feet, with a worried expression.

"Hey, you can't go back there!" she called.

Lee pulled out his badge and flashed it at her. "I think I can," he said and watched as the woman shrank back into her chair. He walked down the short hallway, listening for sounds of conversation and hearing none. When he finally spotted a nameplate for Warren Davenport, he walked quietly up and slowly pushed the door open to peek inside.

Amanda was wrapped in Davenport's arms, eyes closed, her hands on his lapels while he kissed her. For a split second, Lee thought that everything he thought he knew about Amanda King was wrong and then he heard Davenport scream as she stomped firmly down on his foot and said angrily, "I said stop it!"

He pushed his way into the room; the look of relief on her face when she saw him told him everything he needed to know. Grabbing Davenport by the scruff of his neck, he threw him up against a wall. "Wait for me outside," he said to Amanda, barely controlling his anger.

"Lee, don't – it's fine."

"It is NOT fine, Amanda. Go get your stuff. You're leaving."

She wavered for a moment – she didn't want to stay but she was worried about would happen if she left them alone. The look on Lee's face had frightened her just a little if she was honest and she didn't want him doing anything to Davenport that would get him in trouble.

"Amanda!" He jerked his head towards the door. "Just go."

Amanda fled, moving to her desk to pick up her purse and coat and then standing nervously by the front desk, chewing her cuticles, and sharing an embarrassed look with the woman still sitting across the room. A few moments later, Lee joined her, face still stormy. He looked at her face and seeing the concern there, held up his hands.

"Look, no marks. I didn't hit him if that's what you're worried about."

"He deserved it, but I was worried you'd get in trouble for hitting him. What happened back there?" Lee had taken her by the arm and was leading her out of the office. The elevator came swiftly and they stepped in. She could feel the tension radiating off him. "Lee?"

"I told Mr. Davenport that his name is going to have a black mark against it on every law enforcement database he could think of and that if he didn't make sure that you got paid for the full week, one of those databases was going to be the IRS."

"Oh." They reached the ground floor and walked out into the sunshine. "Thank you. How did you show up right when I needed you?"

He gave a short laugh. "Seemed like it was my turn to do some dragon slaying." He gave her an admiring glance. "Although you were doing a pretty good job of that by the time I got there. He'll be limping for a week after that stomp you gave him." He gave a sigh and somewhat unwillingly let go of the grip he still had on her upper arm. "I wish I could take credit for superhero status but really I was just in the area and thought I'd stop by and see if you were free for lunch."

"Well, it looks like I'm free all afternoon now. The whole week actually," she said, trying to make a joke but sounding a little forlorn. She groaned at her next realization. "Office Temps won't send me anywhere else after this. Walking out on two jobs in two weeks is not exactly going to give them confidence in me."

Lee stopped dead in the middle of the sidewalk. She had actually taken a few steps forward before she realized he wasn't beside her anymore. She turned to look at him questioningly and he snapped his fingers and pointed at her, "Now that is something I think I can fix." He looked around until he spotted a payphone on the corner. "Wait there."

She leaned on a lamp post and watched him make a call. He was obviously asking someone a question and had started to speak rapidly when he'd suddenly stopped dead and started to laugh, glancing back at her momentarily before looking away. After a minute more of head nodding and conversation, he'd hung up and started to walk back towards her. Then unexpectedly, he'd stopped, turned around and made a second call, much briefer this time, although he'd looked really confused in the middle of it. Then, once again, he was walking back up to her, smiling.

"Well, Kid, if you'd like the job, there's one for you at the Agency." At her look of surprise, he'd held up a hand. "It's only in the secretarial pool and it'll be dull, just transcribing and helping with paperwork, but I can guarantee you there won't be any Davenports."

"You got me a job?" Her voice squeaked with pleasure.

"It wasn't that hard actually." He started to laugh and went on, "Apparently Billy has wanted to hire you ever since he realized you could read my handwriting but he thought you might be sick of the sight of us so he didn't ask you."

"Really? That's so nice! He doesn't even know if I'm any good at anything else." She'd gone pink with embarrassment at the compliment.

"I'm sure you'll be fine once you learn how to use a Dictaphone volume knob properly," Lee smiled, pleased that he'd managed to make her happy again. "You can start Monday if that's alright with you."

"That would be great!" She paused for a moment, thinking back. "So what was the second phone call?"

"Oh well, Billy had asked if you could start this week and I thought you were probably fine with that, but then I called him back and said you couldn't start until Monday after all."

"Why would you do that? I could have started today if he'd wanted me to. Was he upset? I mean it was nice of him to even give me a job, I don't want to start off on the wrong foot if he really wanted me to start this week…" she trailed off as Lee held up both hands in an effort to get her to stop talking.

"Amanda, it's fine. I just called him back and explained that you needed to go on a class trip with your son. He has kids, he was perfectly happy to have you start next week instead."

"You remembered that?"

"Attention to detail is the trademark of a good agent, Amanda."

"So why did you make that weird face when you called the second time?"

"Well, it doesn't make any sense but Francine was in Billy's office and she said I should make sure to tell you she was looking forward to the two of you starting the K-9 unit." He looked quizzically at Amanda as she started to laugh. "Should I have told you that? Was that an insult? I wouldn't put it past her."

"No, it's not an insult – it's an inside joke. Francine and I sort of bonded over a hound dog."

Lee stared at her, still trying to figure out why she was laughing. "You're sure? That makes sense to you?"

"It makes perfect sense. It means she thinks I should take the job."

A look of apprehension crossed Lee's face. "I'm in trouble, aren't I?"

"Oh yeah, Butch."


End file.
